Forensic History

Question 1

China (Qin Dynasty) 200 BC

Pre 1800s

Answer 1

used fingerprints as seals/to sign legal documents

Question 2

Yi Yu Ji (collection of criminal cases published 1418)

Pre 1800s

Answer 2

reported, a Chinese coroner provided evidence showing how the man died

Question 3

1248 Hsi Duan Yu (The Washing Away of Wrongs)

Possibly the first forensic science publication

Answer 3

1) established the position of a coroner

2) figured out how to identify strangulation through damage to the body

Question 4

1235 AD Washing Away of Wrongs - Forensic Entomology

Pre 1800s

Answer 4

scientific study of bugs on a dead body

Question 5

1609 Francois Demelle (France)

Answer 5

first published essay on document examination

comparing handwriting and signatures

Question 6

1775 Carl Wilhelm Scheele (Sweden)

Answer 6

Toxicology - detection of arsenic acid in stomach contents

Question 7

Technological Advances in 1800s

Answer 7

1) chemistry 2) physics 3) biology 4) instruments

Question 8

Who is the Father of Toxicology? What did he do?

Answer 8

1814 Matthew Orfila (Spain)

Published a treatise on poisons, found in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms

Question 9

Fingerprint Classification…Who?

Answer 9

1823 John Evangelist Purkinje (Czecheslovkia)

published first paper on fingerprints and suggested classification system based on a major types

Question 10

Anthropometric Theory…Who?

Answer 10

1830s - Alphonse Bertillion
Identification of people through physical measurements
~ lost out to fingerprinting ~

Question 11

Toxicology in the Courtroom…Who?

Answer 11

1836 - James Marsh (Scotland)
chemist, was the first to use toxicology in a jury trial
~ Developed the Marsh Test ~

Question 12

1851 Ludwig Teichmann (Poland)

Answer 12

first microscopic crystal test for hemoglobin

~ Teichmann Test - a confirmatory test for blood ~

Question 13

1879 Rudolph Virchow (Germany)

Answer 13

“The Pope of Medicine”
Hair analysis - hair comparison
~ first to testify to forensic hair comparison ~

Question 14

Fingerprints can link suspects to a crime scene - 1880 Henry Faulds (Scotland)

Answer 14

physician working in Tokyo

~ published a paper in the Nature journal ~

Question 15

Sherlock Holmes popularized forensic science - 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle (England)

Answer 15

published the first Sherlock Holmes story

Question 16

First use of Forensic Firearm Testing - 1889 Alexandre Lacassagne (France)

Answer 16

The first to try to individualize bullets to a gun barrel

Question 17

1st comprehensive book on fingerprints - 1892 (Sir) Francis Galton (England)

Answer 17

he defined and named print minutiae, known as Galton Details

Question 18

Fingerprint Classification System - 1896 Sir Edward Richard Henry (England)

Answer 18

developed the fingerprint classification system

Question 19

FBI Fingerprint Database..When did it come about?

Answer 19

1950s

Question 20

Albert Osborne - 1910

Answer 20

pen position, shading, pressure, tool, size, etc.

~ published Questioned Documents ~

Question 21

First Blood Type Test - 1915 Leone Lattes (Italy)

Answer 21

devised a method for ABO blood typing of dried bloodstains

Question 22

Edmond Locard: French Criminologist (1877-1966)

Locard’s Principle…..

Answer 22

every contact leaves a trace

hair, fiber, fingerprints, saliva, DNA, etc.

Question 23

What does the FBI stand for?

Answer 23

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Question 24

When was the first crime laboratory created?

Answer 24

1932

Question 25

What is a crime lab?

Answer 25

a scientific laboratory that examines physical evidence in criminal matters

Question 26

What is the oldest crime lab in the U.S.

Answer 26

LAPD (1923, August Vollmer)

Question 27

What is the largest crime lab in the world?

Answer 27

1932 - Quantico, VA (> 500 specialists and special agents)